Airbnb & Booking.com Fees Explained: What Hosts Pay

Airbnb and Booking.com don't charge you to list, but they take a cut of every booking. At the time of writing (October 2026), most Airbnb hosts pay a single host fee of around 15.5% of the booking, and Booking.com charges about 15% on average, often more once you add visibility programmes and payment fees. On a typical week that's well over €150 per booking.

This guide explains how each fee model works, what it's charged on, and what you actually keep, with one worked example you can compare side by side.

How Airbnb charges hosts

Airbnb has used two fee models. Which one applies to you depends on where you host and how your account is set up.

The host-only fee (around 15.5%)

Under the host-only model, Airbnb deducts one fee from your payout, typically around 15.5% of the booking subtotal. The guest sees the price you set, with no separate Airbnb service fee at checkout. This is now the standard model for most hosts worldwide. Rates can be higher in some countries, and in the EU VAT may be added on top of the fee.

The split fee (3% host + guest fee)

Under the older split model, you pay about 3% and the guest pays a separate service fee, usually around 14–16% of the subtotal, on top of your price. Your payout looks better, but the guest's total is higher, which can make your listing look more expensive in search.

Airbnb has been moving hosts from the split fee to the host-only fee in waves, and the timing has differed by region and by whether you use connected software. If you host in the European Economic Area, don't assume either model: open your Airbnb earnings or payout settings and check which fee is applied to your bookings.

What Airbnb's fee is charged on

The fee is calculated on the booking subtotal: the nightly rate plus cleaning fees and any extra-guest or pet fees you charge. Taxes are generally not included in the subtotal. So a higher cleaning fee also means a higher Airbnb fee.

How Booking.com charges hosts

Booking.com works on commission. There's no listing fee and the guest doesn't pay a separate service fee, so the whole cost sits with you.

The base commission (about 15%)

The commission is typically 10–25% depending on your country and property type, with around 15% as a common average. It's charged on the total reservation value, which usually includes cleaning and other extra charges. Local tourist taxes are typically excluded.

What pushes the real rate higher

The base rate is only the starting point. Several common options raise what you effectively pay:

• Genius discounts. Genius members get a discount (often 10% or more) off your price. You pay commission on the discounted price, but the discount itself comes out of your revenue.
• Preferred Partner and visibility programmes. These boost your ranking in exchange for a higher commission percentage.
• Payments by Booking.com. If Booking.com collects payment for you, a payment processing fee of roughly 1.1–3.1% applies on top.

Put together, many hosts end up with an effective cost of 17–22% of the booking. Your monthly invoice in the extranet shows exactly what you were charged, so check it rather than relying on the headline rate.

Worked example: one €1,075 week

Take a one-week stay: 7 nights at €140 plus a €95 cleaning fee, for a booking subtotal of €1,075. Taxes are left out to keep it simple.

A few things stand out:

• Host-only and Booking.com's base rate land in the same place. Both leave you with around €910 from a €1,075 booking.
• The split fee only looks cheaper. You keep more, but the guest pays roughly €150–€175 extra at checkout, which can cost you bookings.
• Booking.com's real rate matters. Moving from 15% to an effective 20% costs another €54 on this one stay.
• Direct has costs too, just different ones. You pay for your booking page (a monthly subscription rather than a percentage), and possibly a small fee if the guest pays by card. A bank transfer is usually free or close to it.

To see what these percentages add up to over a year for your property, use the commission calculator.

How fees change the way you price

Because the fee comes out of your payout, many hosts raise their platform prices to compensate. That's fine, but it has two side effects:

• Your platform price becomes your highest price. Guests who book direct can get a better deal while you still earn more per stay.
• Cleaning fees cost more than they look. Every euro of cleaning fee is commissionable on both platforms.

If you list on both platforms, compare your net payout per night on each, not the price the guest sees. The numbers can differ more than you'd expect.

What "commission-free" actually means

Direct booking tools usually charge a flat subscription instead of a percentage. That changes the maths: the fee stays the same whether you take one booking a month or twenty. For example, OpenSty costs €14 a month for one property, with no commission on bookings. You confirm each request yourself and guests pay you directly, by bank transfer or by card through your own Stripe account, so read taking payments for direct bookings before your first direct guest arrives.

Commission-free doesn't mean cost-free. You take on the work a platform did for you: getting found, building trust and collecting payment. For most small hosts the right answer is a mix: platforms to find new guests, and direct bookings for returning guests and referrals. Our guide to getting direct bookings walks through that setup.

How to check what you really pay

Fee rules change often and vary by country, so verify your own numbers:

1. Airbnb: open a recent reservation and look at the payout breakdown, or check your earnings dashboard. It shows the host fee in euros and as a percentage.
2. Booking.com: look at your monthly commission invoice in the extranet. Check whether Genius, visibility programmes or Payments by Booking.com apply to your property.
3. Work out your effective rate: add up all fees for a month and divide by your total booking value. That single percentage is the number to compare against direct.

Common questions

Is Airbnb's 15.5% fee charged on the cleaning fee?

Yes, in general. The host fee is calculated on the booking subtotal, which includes cleaning and other fees you charge, but usually not taxes.

Which is cheaper for hosts, Airbnb or Booking.com?

At base rates they're similar, around 15%. The difference comes from the extras: Genius discounts, visibility programmes and payment fees can push Booking.com higher, while Airbnb's rate depends on your fee model and country. Compare your own invoices.

Do guests pay extra on Booking.com?

Booking.com doesn't add a separate service fee for guests. The commission is paid by you, out of the price the guest pays.

Can I avoid platform fees completely?

Only on bookings that don't go through a platform. Returning guests and referrals are the easiest to move to direct, and each one saves the full commission.